Soldiers fighting Boko Haram in Maiduguri complains of lack of ammunition and killing of fellow soldiers.
The 7th Division was formed only recently as a unit devoted to fighting the war against Boko Haram. General Mohammed was appointed as the GOC in February 2014.
One of the sources revealed that the situation was extremely tense, adding that the GOC escaped by the whiskers as the mutiny by angry soldiers could have degenerated into a personal attack on him.
They say the soldiers became enraged when they saw the bodies of their colleagues ambushed by Boko Haram terrorists in Chibok, a town in Borno State that has spurred global protests over the abductions of schoolgirls by members of the extremist Islamist sect.
The restive soldiers complained that their superior have not provided
them with adequate weaponry with which to fight the war against the
better-armed Boko Haram militants.
“We the soldiers don’t have the kind of arms and ammunition that
[Boko Haram] fighters have. So everyday, they kill our men anyhow, but
it is never published in the media,” said one source. The other source also complained that the commanding officers “are too busy ‘eating’ money. And they do not pay our allowances on time. And once [a soldier dies], nobody knows what happens to his allowances again.”
The two soldiers also disclosed that the mutinying soldiers were fed up
that their military commanders have not devised a troop rotation system
to ensure that those in combat can get some rest before being redeployed
to continue the bloody and frustrating war with Boko Haram insurgents.
Residents who live near the barracks also said that they heard the sound of sporadic exchange of gunfire. “We thought that may be Boko Haram was attacking and the army was trying to push them back,” one resident said.
